It’s in Africa’s best interests to ensure compliance with the International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) 0.5% sulphur cap regulations when they come into force in 2020.

That’s the view of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (Nimasa) director general, Dakuku Peterside, who told journalists at the maritime week in Dubai yesterday that this was particularly relevant because the majority of countries on the continent did not have the technology to mitigate the harmful effects of high sulphur fuel on the environment.

“The 2020 fuel challenge is geared towards efficiency, environmental pollution control and health as well as core regulatory enforcement issues,” said Peterside. “As a maritime nation we cannot afford not to comply with the IMO standard which will also do a lot in mitigating global warming and other related environmental issues.”

Peterside said that Nimasa would enforce strict compliance with the new sulphur regulations, along with the newly adopted carriage ban. The administration had also come up with plans to manage the transition to the new fuels and ensure compliance, he added.

“Nimasa will embark on stakeholder engagements and collaboration with fuel refiners and suppliers,” he said. “The agency will have a schedule for pre-enforcement information before commencement of the proper enforcement.”

He said that the best way to ensure compliance would be for ship owners, classification societies, NGOs, fuel storage facilities and other stakeholders to play a part in determining models to ensure compliance.